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HEAVYHITTER ISSUE #3
LL COOL J
Words John Sankitts, Jr.
MR. LIVING LEGEND COOL JAMES Phenomenon. One of Canibus’ verses was, “L, is that a mic on your arm? Let me borrow that.” Canibus alleged that it was his own way of showing respect to the rap veteran. When LL heard the rhyme, however, he got offended and turned the collaboration into a battle record. He contested the request and turned from ladies man to man killer with his diabolical, gritty response to the young apprentice. This somewhat closed the book on Canibus’ career, making it hard for him to be a commercial success. Canibus did retaliate equally hard with his single “Second Round K.O.,” bringing to light some content from LL’s book that made his diss seem razor sharp. LL’s forceful response with “The Ripper Strikes Back” morphed a verse into a samurai sword – slicing and dicing Canibus into a puree. This isn’t the first time he’s been attacked. He eradicated Kool Mo Dee, MC Hammer and Ice T in a record called “To Da Break of Dawn,” in which one of his best lyrical offenses was too hot to handle. LL Cool J is an intelligent, crafty artist who would do a collabo record with an R&B supergroup that would make a buzz and cheddar, while simultaneously dropping his album as the hit was climbing the charts.
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t’s blistering hot outside and I have the wrench to turn the fire hydrant on in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. As my cousin pulls up, he has his outrageous stereo system bumping “Back Seat (Of My Jeep)” from LL Cool J’s album 14 Shots to the Dome. It was the jam that started that block party off and all the ladies got wet. Born James Todd Smith in 1968 in St. Albans, Queens, cultural icon LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James) is an American-born rap artist, maverick and prodigy of reinvention. He’s been consistent with unforgettable hits and has been doing this for 24 years. LL Cool J puts a capital “L” in longevity; the album Radio alone can stand the test of time as one of Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums of all time. There have been many rap artists out there who have dissed Mr. Smith ‘cause he’s not your conventional, rough-and-rugged, street-thug rapper – something he really doesn’t claim to be. Still, with all the hating that’s going on, his credibility speaks for itself.
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JAN FEB 2008 GOATMAG.COM
Ok, so he doesn’t rhyme about how many drugs he has sold, the platinum chains he has, or how many years he spent in prison. Instead, he chooses to let the mic absorb his lyrical arsenal, something that has built his credibility and longevity. He’s a ladies’ man and may even be the inventor of the rap ballads he’s been doing well since the ‘80s (and even recently with the scorching single “Baby”). His R&B collaborations and signature classics have had so much mass appeal that they have stamped him as one of the Greatest Of All Time. You can’t compare to being signed to the same record label for 22 years, numerous movies, a sitcom, a clothing line, four books and the perfect image-marketing apparatus in the industry – his body. He has enough classics and collabos with elite R&B singers to create his own Billboard chart. But even with all that success, there are haters, naysayers and critics who are always trying to pull his card. An amateur rapper named Canibus was asked to kick a verse on LL’s “4,3,2,1” track with Method Man, DMX, and Redman from LL’s 1997 album
With numerous platinum albums, and a new album in rotation, can we please top him with the G.O.A.T. crown? Of course we can. Well, the haters, the less fortunate and the diminutive career wanksters out there would say otherwise. They’re probably more like, “He’s not gangster,” “He got no real skills,” his only fans are “fans that wear high heels.” Well, if that’s true, his career has been on top for over twenty years and he still has the ability to reform and transform with enough classics to open a music museum. Mr. Smith met every genre with something new to offer. Where one will be president of a record label and stifle other artists into a void, LL relatively declines that 9-to-5 position to be what he is – an artist that’s always evolving and exploiting new artistic avenues. It’s now 2009, and LL has a new critically acclaimed album, Exit 13, in which he claims has some of his best work to date. He also has a humble clothing line geared to his fans and regular hip-hop heads that want to embrace the hip-hop fashion style but want an affordable price tag. With Sears as his main retail distributor, it’s a clever move because Sears is
worldwide and has a long, successful track record as a multi-goods retailer. With these types of business decisions being implemented, it’s apparent that Mr. Smith is not your average gangster, ex-drug dealing, jail-bid having, case-catching rapper. Instead, he is a shrewd pupil of the game that has evolved into an iconic figure. He has embraced what success can do for you; LL Cool J has had public, as well as personal, creative and monetary success throughout his illustrious career, something that few hip-hop artists can match. The G.O.A.T. recently spoke to DJ Angie Martinez and expressed that he has gotten to a plateau – where he can enjoy the benefits and the impact his music has brought to his fans. He also offered some advice to his haters saying, “We got to be careful that before we start to compare ourselves to others, we must make a benchmark for ourselves.” Now, there’s a lot of talent out there, and if you have been doing this as long as LL has, you would be demanding respect. LL’s lyrical assassination approach puts all MCs to sleep, even those with restaurants, basketball teams, liquor brands, and those wannabe gangster rappers wearing 3-pound, 10-carat jewelry, that walk around with 50 undercover cops posing as body guards with 30 other “yes men” in their entourage. LL chooses to walk around solo, with a smile on his face all the way to the bank. LL’s business regimen and lyrical swagger are like no other and are untouchable when compared to his industry colleagues. Now you may say I’m all on Mr. Smith’s gonads, but the truth is that he’s a legendary cultural icon that has risen up decade after decade to stay relevant and has the credibility, music and image to back it up. Although LL has had his share of personal demons and setbacks, he’s always found a way for his fans to know that he was still tangible and still around. His departure from Def Jam will just bring an end to this era; with his album Exit 13 (signifying his 13 albums), he’s sure to leave future emcees something to cling to. As for it being his last album, it’s still questionable. With his deep passion for the game, I don’t think he can walk away without continuing to throw some veteran punches to the competition. Therefore, leave this happily married father of four, business man, hip-hop artist, accomplished actor, sitcom star, clothing-line creator, four-book authoring, lip licking, microphone-tattoo having, fitness guru, rap supastar, out-of-your-league artist absent from your quick, claim-to-fame, 16-bar-diss or else you’ll be the next victim to get your career stitched up. LL Cool J will no doubt go down in the music industry as one of the G.O.A.T.s, especially when we can’t live without our radio.